Issued by the EPA for comment until 4 December 2020, the aim is for it to be finalised in early 2021.
The draft National Recycling Strategy outlines “strategic objectives and actions needed to create a stronger, more resilient U.S. municipal solid waste recycling system”.
EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler said: “Over the last two years, we’ve heard from our partners about the challenges facing our nation’s recycling system, and in particular for municipal solid waste recycling”.
“Our strategy aims to move recycling in America forward by identifying actions that all of us – governments, non-profits, private industry, and the public – can take together.”
The EPA says that the strategy will address several factors that are “stressing the system”.
These include:
- Confusion about what materials can be recycled
- Recycling infrastructure that has not kept pace with changing waste streams
- Reduced markets for recycled materials
- Varying methodologies to measure recycling system performance.
The draft document also outlines three objectives including: reducing contamination, increasing processing efficiency, and improving markets.
Reducing Contamination
The strategy suggests that by reducing contamination in the recycling stream, it will enable more material to be recycled and can result in less material being discarded.
The EPA says this will also mean higher quality recycled materials will be produced for manufacturing feedstock.
It plans to do this by “enhancing education and outreach to consumers” on the value of recycling and how to recycle properly.
And, there will be a focus on increasing coordination, availability, and accessibility of information of recycling programs and policies at the “federal, state, tribal and local levels”.
Increase Processing Efficiency
The draft strategy says investment and innovation is “needed” to increase the efficiency of materials processing infrastructure and to create a more “resilient” recycling system.
Also planned is more funding of the development of new technologies and increasing consideration of the sorting process in the designing of new products.
Recycling system definitions, measures, targets and performance indicators will also be developed and implemented, under this objective.
Improve Markets
The EPA notes that there is a need to improve markets for recyclable materials and recyclable products as well as to better integrate recycled materials into product and packaging designs.
It is proposed that to do this, workshops will be conducted to spur market development for recycled materials and educate stakeholders on the value of secondary materials.
An increase in demand for recycled materials will also be introduced through policies, programs, initiatives and incentives, which the EPA said will focus on materials with less mature markets.
US election
The strategy will be finalised in December after the upcoming US presidential election on 3 November, which will determine further environmental policies.
In terms of recycling policies, the Trump Administration launched the plastics innovation challenge to reduce plastic waste through better recycling technology, which is an objective outlined in the draft strategy.
President Trump however opposes single-use plastic bans in his upcoming presidential campaign.
His election rival Joe Biden has mentioned plastic as a threat to safe water in his climate plan, and supports the phasing out of singe use plastics.
The draft strategy comes ahead of America Recycles Week and ahead of the third annual Recycling Summit, which will be hosted by Administrator Wheeler on 17 November.
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